The final event of the Big County BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) Robotics competition is slated for Saturday, Oct. 22, at the Sweetwater campus of TSTC (Texas State Technical College) West Texas. Machine Check-In Day will be on Friday, Oct. 21, starting at noon in the TSTC Sweetwater Student Center. This will lead into the final event, Contest Day, on Saturday, Oct. 22, when the actual competition will take place.
Sweetwater and Roscoe are the two area schools participating in BEST. Other districts within the Big Country competition hub include ATEMS (Academy of Technology, Engineering, Math & Science) in Abilene, Clyde, Comanche, Eastland, Gustine, Lueders-Avoca, Rising Star and Snyder.
In its 18th year, BEST has become a national program with over 12,500 students competing in over 850 schools in 15 states. The competition was founded by Texas Instruments engineers Ted Mahler and Steve Marum in 1993.
The program strives to engage, excite and inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology. Through the provision of real-world engineering experience and technology literacy, students can also gain leadership, teamwork and organization skills as well as confidence.
For more information on BEST, contact Terry Blankenship, the director of the Big Country BEST Hub Steering Committee, at 235-7446 or at terry.blankenship@sweetwater.tstc.edu[3].